1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to methods and systems for mounting support elements and alignment pins upon printed circuit boards and, more particularly, to a design for utilizing shared mounting holes to mount both support elements and alignment pins to save functional board space as well as to advantageously place the support elements.
2. Relevant Background
To increase computing density and provide optimal data rates, computer servers generally include a number of interconnected printed circuit boards (“PCBs”), often referred to as daughterboards or daughtercards, that provide data processing and storage, power conversion, system control, network connection, and other system computing functions. Depending on the size of the daughterboards and their location within the server, the daughterboards are generally mounted relative to a backplane or a midplane that is mounted within the server chassis (collectively a “mounting plane”). The mounting plane is formed of another PCB that connects several backplane/midplane connectors in parallel with each other. Each pin of each connector is linked to the same relative pin of all the other connectors, forming a physical and electrical common bus that serves as a backbone to connect the daughterboards to form a complete computer system. There are numerous types of commercially available backplane/midplane connectors, and many of these connectors rely on alignment pins to facilitate the mating relationships between the female connectors located on the mounting plane with the corresponding male connectors attached to each daughterboard, or vice versa. In this regard, the alignment pins guide the female and male connectors into alignment to ensure a proper electrical connection.
A mounting plane also generally includes a number of support elements that stiffen the mounting plane to reduce warpage of the board during manufacturing heat cycles and/or solder processes. The support elements or stiffeners also reduce flexing of the board that results from assembly forces that are applied during the process of connecting the daughterboards to the mounting plane via the backplane/midplane connectors. The support elements may also be used to secure the mounting plane to a wall of the server chassis.
The advancement of the computer and electronics industry demands that ever-increasing numbers of electronic components are integrated on single PCBs. In addition, PCBs are expected to continuously shrink in size, meaning that PCBs must accommodate an increasing number of electronic devices with an ever-decreasing footprint. As a result, PCB real estate is expensive and of great value to board designers.
Currently, the connector alignment, pins discussed above are press fit within mounting holes that extend through the mounting plane PCB. Each alignment pin mounting hole is a dedicated hole that serves no other function but to mount a single alignment pin. Similarly, the support elements are fastened to the mounting plane PCB via separate, dedicated support element mounting holes in the mounting plane PCB.